Improv for Actors

257 Pages·2004·1.13 MB·English

by  Dan Diggles

Prelims 02/19/2004 10:30 AM Page i
What Others Have Said about
Dan Diggles
“[Dan’s] teaching is thoughtful, caring, kind, generous, carefully
clarified, and inspiring. He is one of the most highly compli-
mented instructors with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of
working. While there are many of us who think we know
something of acting, there are but a few who really teach it well.
Dan is one of those.”
—Gary Sullivan, Department Chairman,
Wagner College Theatre Department, Staten Island, NY
“Dan’s dedication to teaching is clearly evident when one observes
his class. He has been one of the most sought after instructors in
the department because he continues to challenge the student.”
—Bill Bordeaux, Professor of Theatre,
Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY
“Dan Diggles is an outstanding teacher of improvisation. . . .
[His]technique and style are unmatched. . . . He knows his subject
matter inside and out and, as a successful working actor and
improv artist, he serves as a role model to his students.”
—Laura Huntsmann, Education Director,
The McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ
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ii Improv for Actors
“Dan’s particular style of improv involves three fundamental
rules which teach useful life lessons for anyone who needs to
collaborate. [His] constant encouragement and positive outlook
are invaluable enhancements to the entertaining and useful
content of his classes. . . . it will be our good fortune to incor-
porate many of Dan’s unique approaches to improvisation into
our future course work.”
—Allen Kennedy, Senior Teacher,
The Dalton School, New York, NY
“Dan possesses the incredible capacity to ignite and enthuse, all
the while teaching both the necessary skills of drama and the
invaluable skills of survival. His teaching carries with it the expe-
rience, wisdom and caring that are so particular to him. . . .
Repeatedly, Dan proves that learning can also be fun.”
—Ron DeMaio, Director, Student Television Arts Company,
Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, NY
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ALLWORTH
PRESS
NEW YORK
Prelims 02/19/2004 10:30 AM Page vi
© 2004 Dan Diggles
All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention,
Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright
Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior
permission of the publisher.
07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1
Published by Allworth Press
An imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.
10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010
Cover design by Derek Bacchus
Page composition/typography by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.,
Pondicherry, India
ISBN: 1-58115-325-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Diggles, Dan.
Improv for actors/Dan Diggles.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-58115-325-2 (pbk.)
1. Improvisation (Acting) I. Title.
PN2071.I5D54 2004
792.02(cid:2)8—dc22
2003024693
Printed in Canada
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Table of Contents
Part I: Introduction to Improv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
1. The Three Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Say the First Thing That Comes into Your Head . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. Make Your Partner Look Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4. Say “Yes! And . . .” to All of Your Partner’s Offers . . . . . . . . . . 31
5. Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Part II: A Flexible Class Plan for a Course in Improvisation 56
Introduction to the Class Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Class 1: Getting Acquainted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Class 2: Warm-up and the Three Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Class 3: Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Class 4: “I Love You” Scenes with Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Class 5: Permission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Class 6: Introduction to Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Class 7: The Four Status States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Class 8: Status and Character Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Class 9: The King Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Class 10: The Status Therapy Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Class 11: Status Soap Opera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Class 12: “I Love You” Scenes with Status and Status Dialogue . . . 145
Class 13: No You Didn’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Class 14: Word-At-a-Time Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Class 15: Story Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Class 16: “It’s Tuesday!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Class 17: Union Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Class 18: Mock Auditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Class 19: Using Improv Skills in Scripted Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Part III: Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Appendix 1: Warm-up Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Appendix 2: Lists for Jump-Starting Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Appendix 3: Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Appendix 4: Side-Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Appendix 5: Neutral Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Appendix 6: Source Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
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Part I
Introduction to Improv
Chapter 01 02/19/2004 10:25 AM Page 1
Chapter
[ ]
1 The Three Rules
There are three rules to good improvisation. If you follow them,
whatever your background—whether you’ve had any training as
a performer or not—you will be an excellent improviser. The rules
are:
• Say the first thing that comes into your head.
• Say, “Yes! And . . .” to all of your partner’s offers.
• Make your partner look good.
Simple as these rules sound, you’re probably going to find, as
most people do, that they are antithetical to everything life has
taught you. And that you have to bend the spine of your will to
accomplish them.
Theater and improvisation are communal art forms. Both require
not only spontaneity (Say the first thing that comes into your head),
but also a sharing of offers (Say “Yes! And . . .” to all of your part-
ner’s offers), and generous, mutual support (Make your partner look
good). It is these last two rules in particular that mark the difference
between solo art forms, like writing, sculpting, and painting, and the
communal forms like acting, dance, etc. When we say “Yes! And . . .”